Whole30 Sichuan Green Beans

Several years ago, I asked for a subscription to Cook’s Illustrated. I’ve always been interested in cooking and baking so a subscription to one of the top cooking magazines seemed like a great present! And it totally was. I mean, even if you’re not into cooking, the photos are just gorgeous, right? Browsing through that magazine is never a chore.

I still make one recipe I found in the magazine regularly. At least once a month. Whole30 Sichuan green beans is definitely one of our family’s favorites and it’s low in carb and high in protein! I’ve modified it a bit to be Whole30 approved and we usually make it with ground turkey instead of ground pork, like the original recipe calls for. But it’s a wonderful, quick meal and reheats like a dream so it’s great for meal prep as well.

We usually serve this dish over some kind of rice but if you’re also doing Whole30 this month, serve it over cauliflower rice. Trader Joe’s has an excellent frozen one or you can make your own if you’d prefer. I’m way too lazy to make my own right now. Plus, I actually like the taste and texture of the frozen kind over homemade. I’m not sure why, but I do! Trader Joe’s even has a fried rice version with cauliflower that’s quite tasty, though I’m not 100% sure if it’s Paleo/Whole30 approved. I can’t remember at the moment. It might have soy sauce in it.

The main reason I’m in love with this recipe is because you can adjust how spicy it is. Certain members of my family are pretty sensitive to spicy-level (they’re complete wimps) but I like my mouth to burn! Just increase or decrease the amount of red pepper flakes you use if you too are sensitive to spicy or have little people you’re cooking for that don’t appreciate a mouth a-flame! These Whole30 Sichuan Green Beans are sure to quickly become a family favorite!

P.S. this recipe does NOT work with frozen green beans. I’ve tried so trust me. You need fresh. Good thing they were on sale this week at Sprouts!